Legislative update: a briefing for faculty and staff of the University System of Georgia, No. 7 (Feb. 19, 2007)

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
A Briefing for Faculty & Staff of the University System of Georgia No. 7, February 19, 2007
"Creating a More Educated Georgia"

Legislative Presentation on University-Led Research in Georgia is a First

The presidents of the University System of

University of Georgia, Dr. Wayne Clough of Georgia Tech, Dr.

Georgia's four research Carl Patton of Geor-

universities and the

gia State University,

president and chief

Dr. Daniel Rahn of

executive officer of the the Medical College

Georgia Research

of Georgia and Dr.

Alliance united on Feb. Michael Cassidy of the

12 to inform a group Georgia Research

of state legislators

Alliance.

how the cutting-edge research being done within the USG is improving lives and fueling growth in Georgia.
Invited to address

In addition to the

Higher Education Ap- Rep. Bill Hembree, who presided over the hearing, is flanked

propriations Subcom- here by Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough (left) and Rep.

mittee, members of the Bob Smith (right), who conceived the event.

House Higher Education Committee and

groundbreaking work

Photo courtesy of Georgia State University

the Higher Education the chairs of several

on emerging infectious recruiting world-

Subcommittee of the important House and diseases like bird flu

class scientists who

House Appropriations Senate committees at- and West Nile virus

generate hundreds of

Committee in what

tended the 75-minute being done at UGA,

millions of dollars in

the subcommitte's

hearing presided over cancer and diabetes at

outside investment;

chair, Rep. Bob Smith, hopes to make an annual event were Dr. Michael Adams of the

by Rep. Bill Hembree.
The legislators learned about the

Regents Welcomed Under Gold Dome
Members of the Board of Regents were recognized on the floor of both the Senate and the House of Representatives during time spent at the state Capitol on Feb. 14 for visits and meetings with elected officials.
Coming Up
The General Assembly will meet three days this week Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Next Tuesday, Feb. 27, will be the 25th legislative day of the 40-day session.

MCG, nanotechnology and nano-medicine at Georgia Tech and biotechnology and public health at Georgia State.
Georgia Research Alliance
"This is where it's all happening," said Cassidy, who described the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) as a public/private partnership that assists Georgia's universities in:

brokering partnerships with industry to improve competitiveness and grow jobs in Georgia; and
launching companies that create jobs and bring products to market.
"These four research institutions are tops in many different fields of research, and this work is having a tremendous impact on Georgia's economy," Cassidy said

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE -- February 19, 2007, Issue No. 6

Research
Continued from Page 1...
As an example, he cited GRA Eminent Scholar Dr. Jin-Xiong She, who is leading the world's largest, most comprehensive study of childhood diabetes as director of MCG's Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine. She brought 20 scientists and more than $10 million in federal funds with him to Georgia and continues to generate $4-8 million per year in grants. His studies include worldwide screening programs to find the combination of genetics and environmental triggers that result in type 1 diabetes.
Cassidy also pointed out that Dr. Cliff Baile has been instrumen-

tal in launching seven technology-based companies to date since the internationally known scientist was recruited as UGA's GRA Eminent Scholar in Agricultural Biotechnology in 1995 and Dr. John Copeland at Georgia Tech, GRA's first eminent scholar, has invented a software product, StealthWatch, that is a market leader in detecting a new form of cyber-crime and led to the launch of Lancope, a Georgia company that employs more than 60 people.
"Today, the overwhelming majority of companies in the business incubators at Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia, Georgia State and the Medical College of Georgia are directly related to research

break-

throughs

in those

universi-

ties' labo-

ratories,"

Cassidy

told law-

makers.

He noted

that Geor-

gia now

ranks 7th

in the na-

tion in the

number

of biotech

companies

and this

ranking,

along with

the state's heavy

Dr. Michael Cassidy delivers his presentation on the Georgia Research Alliance.

involve-

ment in cutting-edge Dr. Julia Hilliard, the

broadband telecom- world's foremost ex-

munications, is due to pert on Herpes B. The

research programs at BSL-4 lab a facility

Georgia universities. equipped with glove

"Scientific revolutions are occurring on the campuses and in the laboratories of Georgia's research universities every day,"

boxes for bio-containment of deadly viruses such as HIV and West Nile is one of only two in the country located at a university.

Cassidy said.

Georgia State's BSL-

USG Presidents (left to right) Carl Patton, Michael Adams and Wayne Clough chat with Rep. DuBose Porter (right) and other legislators following the hearing.

Georgia State University
Patton told lawmakers that Georgia State has researchers fighting germ warfare in some of the most hightech, high-security labs in the country, including a Level 4 BioSafety lab headed by GRA Eminent Scholar

4 Lab now acts as a National Institutes of Health National Resource Center and is considered one of the world's front-line diagnostic labs.
Patton noted that the rise in terrorism and the potential for biological attack has height-
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE -- February 19, 2007, Issue No. 6

Research

which is housed at

Continued from Page 2... Georgia State.

University of Georgia
Adams' presentation

More than 100 re- highlighted UGA's re-

ened the U.S. military's searchers from eight search in three areas:

desire to be prepared Atlanta institutions

cancer, infectious dis-

for such an attack.

now work to conduct eases, and bio-energy

In response, the Viral Immunology Center at Georgia State University is designing a detection field device to capture chemical or biological agents to be screened for deadly pathogens like Ebola and anthrax. It also will analyze the collected materials and transmit the data to a lab for real-time analysis, Patton said.
Collaboration with researchers at other institutions is an important part of the System's overall research efforts. One example is the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience

groundbreaking research unlocking and decoding medical, chemical and behavioral secrets of the human brain. The center is supported by researchers and laboratories from area universities, including Georgia Tech, as well as dozens of faculty from Georgia State.
Patton also thanked the legislators for funding the new Science Teaching Laboratory Building. "This new facility will enable us to undertake even more research that will improve the lives of Georgians," Patton said.

and alternative fuels.

He termed the Com-

plex Carbohydrate Re-

search Center (CCRC)

"one of our greatest

research successes,

noting that UGA lured

the CCRC and its

team of 18 scientists

from the University of

Colorado in 1985 and

grew it into a 140,000 Dr. Carl Patton describes Georgia square-foot facility State''s Viral Immunology Center.

that attracts approximately $10 million

Photo courtesy of Georgia State University

in external research

case of bird flu in the

funding annually.

Southeast is sent to

Seventeen research

us for diagnosis and

groups and dozens of study, and when fully

graduate and under- operational in the very

graduate students at near future, the Ani-

the center engage in mal Health Research

cutting-edge research Center will be one of

into the physiology and the largest non-federal

developmental/molecu- bio-containment build-

lar biology of complex ings for animal disease

carbohydrates.

research in the world.

The UGA Cancer Center is also located in this facility because of the important role carbohydrates play

It will enable us to respond to animal-borne diseases in hosts from chickens through cattle with the potential to infect humans."

in cancer, Adams

UGA is also a leader

said, urging contin- in the field of alterna-

ued support from tive fuels and bio-ener-

lawmakers for the gy, partnering with the

center's work.

Department of Energy

Dr. Michael Adams tells legislators about the University of Georgia's cutting-edge research on infectious diseases such as bird flu, work that is helping to protect Georgia's poultry industry.

Turning to research on infectious diseases, Adams told the legislators that "Virtually every

to establish one of two national Bio-Energy Science Centers. The center will be located
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE -- February 19, 2007, Issue No. 6

Research
Continued from Page 3... at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Adams said, but UGA will be a critical partner, receiving $20 million over five years. Success with this center will help ensure Georgia's leadership in creating sustainable alternative fuels that reduce America's dependence on petroleum-based products, he noted.
Medical College of Georgia
MCG focuses its research in five thematic areas that reflect the leading causes of premature mortality and disability in Georgia: neurological diseases, cancer, infection/inflammation, cardiovascular disease and obesity/diabetes,
Dr. Wayne Clough talks about the Georgia Institute of Technology's 18 National Centers of Excellence.

Rahn said. Thematic enabling MCG

growth has helped fuel to provide

tremendous increases around-the-

in research funding

clock assess-

in the last five years, ment and treat-

including a 220 per-

ment of stroke

cent growth in cancer patients in

funding, a 226 percent many areas of

growth in cardiovascu- rural Georgia.

lar disease funding and Despite the fact

a 986 percent increase that Georgia

in diabetes funding.

is in country's

Clinical and transla- stroke belt,

tional science, which most rural

speeds the movement communities

of scientific discover- don't have spe-

ies to patients, have

cialists to treat

become overriding

this potentially

themes for all research activity.
In March, MCG opened its $54 million Cancer Research, which is the hub for expanding works in cancer research and treatment as well as the education of future scientists and practitioners, Rahn said. Major areas of research

debilitating Dr. Dan Rahn talks about biomedical disease. Stud- research at the Medical College of ies have shown Georgia.

this technology,

dubbed REACH, en- leader in biotechnology

ables rural patients to transfer. In 2005, Tech

get care that is as good was awarded 43 pat-

as the care in larger

ents, placing the uni-

cities. MCG is explor- versity third in Georgia

ing its use in treating behind only GE Energy

other medical condi- and BellSouth.

tions and other states are using it as well.

Tech also ranks No. 2 in the nation in en-

and treatment include molecular oncology, prevention and control, immunology/immunotherapy and developmental therapeutics. A clinical trials unit, enabling the study of new therapies as they first move from the lab to patients, is operational.
In the area of neurological disease, a Web-based patient examination system developed by the Medical College of Georgia Neuroscience Center is

Georgia Institute of Technology
Clough told lawmakers of the praise that Georgia Tech, with its 18 National Centers of Excellence and three National Institutes of Health Centers of Excellence in nano-medicine, adds $4 billion annually to the state's economy.
Tech spun off 47 start-up companies during the period 2000-2005, Clough said, and is a global

gineering research and development and No. 3 in the nation in terms of having its nanotechnology experts cited in peer-reviewed publications, Clough said.
Tech's annual research expenditures have doubled during the past decade, he noted. In 2006, the university received 2,317 awards totaling almost $450 million, up from 1,884 awards in 2001 totaling $300 million.

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